The Imminent
by Visser2MarkJade
Summary: Not many future fics can hold a candle to this one -- Forlay, Ani-Beat


I am an Ellimist.   
   We exist in four dimensions.  You may know that the fourth dimension is   
time.  It is because of this that I can tell you the story I am going to.  You   
may recognize the characters.  This tale I call...   
  

##                             ANIMORPHS: The Imminent

   _______________________________________________________________________

##                       Episode I: The Beginning of the End

   _______________________________________________________________________   
  

###  Chapter 1

   Jake stood on the hard metal deck of the bridge, his skin itchy against the   
material of his Captain's uniform. His feet were clad in hard, black boots, his   
hands in leather gloves.  He looked stately, he looked regal.   
   He hated it.   
   The white blankness of z-space was before him.  He gazed through the force   
field protecting the window.  There was nothing to see, but the nothingness of   
Z-space was fascinating to him.   
   It was only 10 years before that he had been a boy, a kid, fighting the   
Yeerks with minimal knowledge and a tiger morph.  It had taken only ten years   
for the human scientists who had been infested to discover how Yeerk technology   
worked and how to use it against them, creating powerful laezr weapons and the   
giant human Cruisers and quick Fury fighters.  The tide of the Yeerk war was   
quickly turned as the humans joined.  Yeerk forces retreated from their   
starbases, left worlds, went into space controlled by them and only them.   
   In ten years.   
   Ax wouldn't have been surprised.  He said that humans do things quickly,   
adapt to situations faster than any other encountered species in the universe.   
   Where is Ax now? Jake wondered.  He knew Ax had been promoted to a War   
Prince immediatly after the battle had been won. His brother, Elfangor, was the   
first Hero in Andalite history to have broken the most important law in   
Andalite culture.   
   Do not let other creatures know about anything about us, the Yeerks, or our   
technology.   
   Jake guessed that the Andalites have never freed an entire race until the   
humans, or they would have realized that if you are taken by a Yeerk and freed,   
you already know most of the things that they don't want you to.  That's how it   
had been with humans anyhow.   
   And now, because of the Yeerks, Jake had to wear this scratchy, stuffy   
uniform with its laezr holster and tight boots.  On the other hand, Jake did   
command the entire Starfleet.  And the most powerful ship, his Tiger.   
   The Tiger was en route to a Starbase 187, on the fringe of Yeerk space, to   
boost defenses and supply badly needed weapons.  SB187 was one of the first   
human starbases, and quite old.  No one really knew how it had survived so   
long.  Except Jake.   
   He looked forward to meeting Rachel again.   
  

###  Chapter 2

   Tobias zipped above the heads of the crew members, his wings spread wide.   
People in uniforms were walking chests out, as if they had nothing else to do   
but strut in uniforms, but Tobias could read their faces.  The Starbase was in   
trouble, deep trouble.   
   < Hey, Hentman, what's up? > he asked as he spread his wings wider and swooped   
onto the green-clad shoulder of a fighter pilot.   
   Leiutenant Hentman's eyes widened in surprise for a second, before he   
remembered that there WAS a talking bird-boy on the station.   
   "You mean you don't know?  We're under attack from a Yeerk Blade ship!"   
Hentman looked puzzled.   
    Tobias replied.   
   "Sorry sir, are you in the same bay as me?" said Hentman.   
  
   Tobias zipped off, leaving a bewildered Hentman staring into empty space   
before he jogged off.   
  
   The fighter bay that contained Talon Squadron was spacious, shining, and   
cold.   
    projected Tobias to everyone in the bay,   
   The flight attendent brought forward a green jumpsuit similar to the one   
that Hentman was wearing, exept that it had a red Wing Commander's stripe   
running down each sleeve.   
   Tobias quickly morphed into human.  That was the problem with flight suits,   
they didn't fit red-tails.  His tight black morphsuit appeared as the feathers   
became etchings on the fabric.  Marco finally got his wish, the Animorphs were   
color coordinated!  The morphsuit was tight and warm and fit well into his   
green-and-red flight suit.   
   Tobias finished zipping the flight suit and he climbed the ladder into his   
S-13 Fury fighter.  The fighter had a long, thin, square body that was tapered   
at the end.  Wings came over the top in a gradual arch that spread them about   
five meters away from the body and on the same level as the bottom of the   
ship.  Two massive laezr guns were attached to the ends of the wings and four   
Dracon-seeking Sidewinder II torpedoes were attached to the underside of the   
wings, two per wing.  Sidewinder IIs homed in on the radiation expulsion from a   
Dracon firing.  That made Sidewinder IIs virtually fail-safe.  Luckily, the   
Yeerks hadn't figured out what the Sidewinders were homing on.  At the tapered   
front of the Fury the muzzle of a Liquifier Cannon showed its ugly face.  The   
Liquifier was designed for capital ship attacks, and ammo was so expensive,   
that it was used only for capital kills by expert marksmen.  The laezrs had   
nearly limitless shots though, and the Sidewinders were almost as effective on   
capital ships.  The Liquifier worked on the principal that if you shove tiny   
amounts of energy in between molecules, eventually you get a liquid, or even a   
gas.  It was incredibly difficult to get just the right amount of power into   
each energy cell, which explained the high price.  Tobias had fired his   
Liquifier a few times, and it was VERY satisfactory when suddenly, a Blade   
ship's Dracon turned into primordal sludge.   
   The plasteel cockpit window slid over Tobias' head and he slipped on the   
helmet provided on the control panel of the Fury.  He plugged it into the   
control and slipped down the battle visor.  SEARCHING FOR TARGETS, said the   
green message at the top of Tobias' vision.  A crosshair was in the center of   
his view and other messages at the bottom were almost too small to read.   
   Tobias flipped a switch and activated the liftoff sequence.  The docking bay   
doors opened in front of him with a whoosh as the air was let out.  Tobias   
snapped his safety belt around his shoulders and to his chest.  The doors   
finished their sequence and Tobias set his Fury's engines on a high Burn.  He   
was forced back into his seat by the sudden burst of speed.   
   His visor now said PRIMARY TARGET and there was a large diamond around the   
shape of a Blade ship in the distance.  Good, a Yeerk Visser to kill, Tobias

thought.   
   Tobias put his newly morphed human mouth to good use. "Talons 1, 2, 3, 4,   
cover me.  I'm going to Liquidate the shield generator on that Blade ship.  You   
guys follow up with Sidewinders.  The rest of you, switch to laezrs and try to   
take out as many of those Bugs coming out from under the ship."   
   Tobias' visor showed small circles around Bug fighters as they exited the   
Blade ship.  Eight S-13s closed in on them, laezrs firing.  If they were lucky,   
there would be no Talon casualties.   
   He hit a switch and the visor showed all possible targets on the Blade   
ship.  He moved his crosshair over them.  Dracon 1, bridge, Dracon 2, launch   
bay, shield. Tobias centered his crosshair over the shield generator and hit   
the button on top of his flightstick.  The small diamond around the shield   
generator turned red as the Fury locked onto it.  He pressed the red button   
that seemed out of place among all the switches on his control panel.   
   LIQUIDATOR ACTIVATED, said the message at the edge of his view.  The visor   
switched away from the wide view and showed a three-dimensional shield   
generator and a crosshair.  Tobias found the power conduit and pressed the top   
button on his flightstick again.  The targeting computer zoomed in on the   
conduit.  Tobias centered his crosshair, and fired.   
   The targeting computer switched off and he watched a blue bolt travel from   
the nose of his S-13 toward the Blade ship.  It flashed as it penetrated the   
Blade ship's shields and continued its journey toward the...   
   TXXXXXZZZZZZZAT!  The bolt of blue hit the power conduit dead on and   
liquified it and some of the surrounding generator.  Tobias switched to capital-   
attack view and saw the possible targets on the Blade ship as well as a message.   
   SHIELD DOWN, said the writing as it flashed above the Blade ship. Tobias   
allowed himself a small smile and then switched to fighter-attack view and   
selected a Bug fighter.  As he turned hard away, he saw Sidewinder II's slam   
into the hull of the Blade ship, causing chain explosions, and then a group of   
S-13s swoop over.  The Blade ship tumbled through space, firing it's Dracons   
uselessly, sparks leaping from it's ax-shaped wings and the diamond bridge as   
the ship died.   
   The Blade ship exploded in a flash of light as it went out of Tobias' view   
because of his turn.  Tobias turned his attention to the Bug fighter.  He   
flipped the switch on his flighstick and armed his Sidewinders.   
   "Nice shot Talon Lead!" called one of his squadron over the battlecomm.   
   "Cut the chatter, but thanks anyway," Tobias replied.   
   "Right, Leader," came back the comm voice   
   Tobias found his Bug fighter target again and acquired a Sidewinder Dracon   
lock.  The crosshair in the center of his vision beeped yellow as it read the   
Dracon signature of the Bug fighter.  Tobias slowly tracked the Bug as it   
swooped through it's dodging movements.  Nothing could dodge a hawk.   
   Tobias was still a hawk, and would always be.  That's probably why he turned   
down all those promotions to become a Wing Commander.  Talon Squadron was one   
branch of the three squadron wing.  The other two squadrons, Razor and Strike,   
were on the Grand Admiral's flagship.  The Grand Admiral was supposed to arrive   
here by now, but apparently he was running late.   
   BEEEEEEP! Screeched the target acquisition sensor as the crosshair centered   
on the Bug fighter turned red.  Tobias flicked the launch trigger almost   
carelessly, and sent a Hork-Bajir and Taxxon to their deaths.   
   That should about do it, Tobias thought as he acquired another Bug fighter   
and tracked it with his laezrs.  The ruby bolts of energy sliced through space   
toward the Bug, and then hit it,slamming into the shielding and cutting through   
the hull.   
   Two down, many more to go.  It was a good thing that the Yeerks had only   
sent a Blade ship.  Those Pool ships could easily wipe out a station defended   
only by fighters.  A flash of laezrs from the station reminded him that a   
station like this, modified, might just hold off a Blade ship, but nothing like   
a Pool ship.   
   A white cone of lines appeared not that far from the station.  Z-space white   
lines.   
   "Speak of the Devil," said Tobias.   
   The Pool ship began launching Bug fighters.   
  

###  Chapter 3

   Rachel saw the lines too.  She saw the Pool ship appear.  She saw death was   
upon her.  But Rachel, being Rachel, wasn't giving up.   
   "Concentrate all fire on the Pool ship," Rachel called to her weapons   
officer.  "TacComm, contact the S-13s, we need those Bug fighters eliminated, NOW."   
   It was tough being the commander of a space station, an old station at   
that.  But Rachel liked tough.  She had turned down promotions too.  She really   
didn't want to end up as Jake's right hand woman.  Tobias just wanted to fly,   
Rachel just wanted to fight.   
   Crimson flashes.  Dracons.  Laezrs.  Ships exploded on her viewscreen.  The   
battle was raging, and the humans were losing.  The Pool ship's Bug fighters   
came in such large amounts they overwhelmed the Furies.  There were a few   
losses already, but the crack pilots in the S-13s were members of an elite   
squadron, Tobias'   
   The Pool ship drew closer to the starbase   
   This station would be lost.

   Jake was sitting now, but the Captain's chair was just as uncomfortable as   
standing.  Oh well.   
   "Approaching Starbase One-Eight-Seven at Impulse Mark 8," called the pilot   
from his seat in front of Jake. Impulse was different than the "Burn" that the   
Andalite's used.  As you approached Maximum Impulse, the ship plunged deeper   
into Zero-Space, keeping you at the same relative speed to the rest of the   
universe, so it was just like if you were on a planet.  Burn caused you to age

slower than the rest of the universe, so at Maximum Burn, you would reach a   
planet in minutes to you, but there it would be days.   
    To quote Elfangor-Sirenal-Shamtul, "That's relativity for you".   
    "Impulse Mark Five...Four...Three...Two...One... Exiting Zero-Space,"   
called back the pilot.   
    The space around SB187 was chaos.  Jake could see most of a squadron of   
S-13s, the remains of Bug fighters that never quite exploded and one "wing"   
from a Blade ship.   
    A Pool ship attacked from a distance.   
    Jake wasted no time but immediatly did what humans did best.   
    He adapted.   
    "TacComm!  How many squadrons do we have?"   
    "Two sir.  Razor and Strike Squadrons from Hawk Wing.  It seems Talon   
Squadron is already here."   
    "Launch them.  Helm, bring us closer to that Pool ship.  I want clean   
shots.  Target the weapons systems first, let's disable the ship before we   
finish it."   
    "Yes sir.  Sir, Strike Squadron reports launch of... all twelve S-13   
Furies!  Razor has launched six."   
    "Very good.  Are we within Liquifier range?"   
    "Not yet sir, Matter/Anti-matter torpedoes are armed and within  firing   
distance.  Proton torps require... 200 meters more."   
    Jake cursed to himself.  "Launch the M/As.  Arm all proton torps and fire   
at will once you are in range.  Our best tactic now is surprise and brute   
force."   
    The M/A torpedoes streaked forward, trailing energy like green comets.   
M/As were not as powerful as proton torpedoes, but had a much longer range.   
The Cruiser "Tiger" was Jake's flagship and therefore the flagship of the   
Terran Starfleet.  That meant it had some special modifications.  Most Cruisers   
only held one Fury squadron and maybe some S-10 Wolf fighters, the Tiger held   
two S-13 squadrons.  The Tiger carried twice the number of torpedoes as other   
Cruisers and three times as many laezrs.   
    The battle raged in front of the modified flagship of the Terran   
Starfleet.  Jake saw laezrs flash their ruby color and Dracons their blood-   
red.  Suddenly, red flashes appeared on the viewscreen.  Proton torpedoes had   
finally been launched.  The Pool ship didn't have a chance.   
    The M/A torpedoes reached their target and exploded against the Pool ship's   
shields.  The shields flashed and shimmered as the eruptions of flame sapped   
the energy.  The proton torpedoes shot in next.  Slamming against the hull of   
the Pool ship, they ripped it apart.  The sheer power of the proton torps tore   
away the armor on the Pool ship and explosions rocked the ship.  Fire shot from   
the Pool ship on the opposite side from where the torpedoes hit.  The proton   
torpedoes were that powerful.   
    A Bug fighter zipped toward the bridge of the Cruiser, firing it's Dracons   
into the shield at full power.  It was a usless gesture, and no one on the   
bridge flinched as the laezrs on either side of the bridge slammed the Bug   
between them like a fly.  Debris smacked against the shielding guarding the   
bridge.  Jake blinked.   
    The Starbase was safe.   
  

###  Epilouge

    Jake strode aboard Starbase 187 in proper military fashion.  But his   
protocol was short lived.   
    "RACHEL!" he called down the hallway.  He began to run, she began to run,   
and they met in the middle.   
    "Long time, no see!" Jake said as they held each other in a family hug.   
    "No kidding.  To tell the truth, I was hoping for a peaceful reunion,"   
Rachel replied with a laugh.   
    "That doesn't sound like the Rachel I used to know," Jake joked.   
    < Yeah, well, running a station is pretty taxing I think >   
    "Tobias?  I should have guessed you would be here," said Jake as the hawk   
swooped forward to land on Rachel's shoulder.   
    < Hey all.  Jake, you showed up just in time! >   
    "No kidd..." Jake began   
    BREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!!!!   
    "My comm?  huh," Jake pulled out the small comm unit.  The picture of the   
President of Earth appeared.   
    "Admiral, the Yeerks!  ZZZZZZZXXXXXXXXGGT!  on earth!  KKXXXXXZZZZATTTTT   
new leader, report immediat... AHHHHHHHHHRRRRRRRRHHHHHH!"   
    The image faded.   
  

##                             EPISODE II: The Return

   _______________________________________________________________________   
  
  

###  Chapter 1

   Marco sat at his computer, clicking keys and using his neural panel to   
communicate telepathically with the computer.  The big boss walked by, hands   
behind his back, glaring at everyone for no good reason.   
   The boss passed and Marco quickly brought his PaddleWar game back up.   
   The ball bounced across the screen with cheap EGA graphics.  DOINK, DOINK,   
DOINK,   
   This went on for a while, the sounds being communicated through the nerural   
panel.   
   DOINK, DOINK, DOINK   
   Marco was a wiz at this game.  The work was so unchallenging for him that he   
spent most of his time on antique games, from Quake to Pac-Man.  Whoopie.   
   He could have easily gotten a promotion, all the way up to chief scientist   
of the Terran Star Navy.  Heh, heh. Then he could work for Jake.  More whoopie.   
   DOINK, DOINK...BZZZZZZZZZZZZZ, went the computer game.   
   Oooh,  I get to go to level fifty-hundred-and-twenty, Marco thought.  That's   
a new record.   
   A hand came down on the keyboard, shutting PaddleWar off.   
   "What do you think you're doing?" said the angry voice of the boss.   
   "Ummm, working?"  Marco felt like he was in 7th grade again, talking to the   
teacher who caught him listning to his Walkman.  At least he wasn't singing   
along this time.   
   "Then show me your..."   
   CRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAACCKKKKKKKKKK!  The building shuddered.  Marco heard the   
sound of...   
   TSSSSEEEEEWWWWWW!  TSSSSEEEEEWWWWWW!   
   Dracons?   
   Marco immediatly knew what he had to do.  His scientist's jumpsuit ripped to   
shreds as his big, black, hairy muscles pushed their way through.  His face   
flattened and his nostrils enlarged.  This was one of Marco's favorite morphs,   
gorilla.   
   < heh heh heh >   
   The boss fainted.   
   < I've gotta do this more often > Marco said to no one in paticular.  He   
lumbered over to the boss' desk and smashed one meaty hand into it.  The locked   
drawer in the middle tore open to revealed a large, pistol shaped laezr gun.   
  < Perfect >   
   Marco gripped the gun in his left hand and lumbered out the door, well it   
was more like THROUGH the door.   
   < I'm hoping they won't make me pay the repair bills.  Heh heh heh. > he   
thought.   
   The outside was a mess.  There were Bug fighters swarming around buildings   
and S-10 Wolves and S-13 Furies melting them to slag.  This was a total unfair   
fight.   
   One of the oval shaped S-10s flew overhead.  The Wolf's design was much   
different than the S-13s, the round Wolves had two pudgy wings coming out of   
the sides with a single Sidewinder II on each.  A high-power laezr was poking   
out of the nose of the ship.  With a very low spread of fire and missle   
payload, the Wolf would be very outdated.  Except for the incredible   
manuverability offered by the quadruple engines.  Even the brand new Furies   
could not match that.  Hey, well, at least they weren't using the old S-3   
Wasps, he thought.   
   Let's see...where would those landing parties be...ahh, Marco thought as he   
spotted the ships dropping.  Why don't I give those commandoes a hand.   
   Marco lumbered over to the landing ship.  The repulsorlifts blew dust   
everywhere.  The door slid up like one of those cheap sci-fi movies on HBO 7   
now.  But this time, there was a gorilla to meet the hostile aliens.   
   CRACK!  Marco/gorilla's fist slammed into the jaw of the lead Hork-Bajir,   
sending it's head flying backwards.  The next salad-shooter got the same   
treatment, but it was slightly prepared and almost dodged Marco's fist.   
   Almost.   
   THUNK!  The Hork stumbled backwards, allowing Marco to sqeeze the trigger on   
his almost-forgotten laezer.   
   The wide beam sliced away at the remaining Hork-Bajir and the slug-like   
Taxxon pilot.   
   < Heh heh heh >   
   With a practiced hand, Marco had vaped every single Yeerk on the Lander.   
And had not damaged anything else.   
   < Well then.  Let's see what this baby can do! >   
   As he lumbered/walked towards the control panel Marco demorphed into his   
skintight, warm, and stylish morphsuit.   
   "Ahhhh," he said with a half finished mouth.  He took a seat at the controls   
and touched his hand to a neural pad.   
   Launch, he thought.   
   The computer on the Lander processed his request, opened command modules,   
locked into a data stream, and began the launch sequence.   
   "And up we go," Marco said to himself.   
   Marco really had no idea what he was doing as he rose through the sea of   
chaos, broadcasting to every TSN fighter that came near him to back away from   
the incredibly cute guy in a Yeerk ship.   
   He got closer to the Yeerk Pool ships in orbit.  Hmm, maybe that would not   
be a great idea since he could not speak Hork-Bajirese or whatever.  That Pool   
ship would recognize a human pretty quickly.  So that means...   
   "Waitaminute!" Marco said to himself, "Where did all our Cruisers go?"   
   That was when the wreckage passed in front of him.   
   Terran Star Navy Cruiser wreckage.   
   They were everywhere.  Empty hulls with no life aboard.  Dead ships.  Fury   
fighters and S-10 Wolves flitted around, causing little damage to the hundreds   
of Pool ships there.   
   "Oh my..."   
  

###  Chapter 2

   Jake was determined.  Earth or bust you might say.  Rachel stood to his   
right, Tobias was on her shoulder.  Everyone was silent.  Jake had told them   
about the message.   
   The Yeerks were invading Earth.   
   It was the President's dying breath that would get Earth's savior to his   
planet.   
   How? Jake was thinking violently.  HOW?  How did they breach our defenses,   
that would take...two hundred Pool ships!  The Yeerks didn't have that many   
ships.   
   On the other hand, The TSN lost contact with all of it's inner operatives on   
the Yeerk homeworld.  One by one over a year.   
   The helmsman called back, "Impulse mark   
five...four...three...two...one...exiting Zero-space."   
   The whiteness of Z-space dimmed and separated into single streaks and lines.   
   That's when Jake saw the battle.   
   "No," he said in astonishment.   
   At least four hundred Pool ships were waiting for him.

   Marco saw the Cruiser appear.  He saw it immediatly fire all its laezr   
weapons at a single Pool ship, shattering it's shields and frying it's   
innerds.  At the exact moment, it let loose it's entire hold of torpedoes at   
various Pool ships, cutting down shielding and causing massive chain   
explosions.  At least ten Pool ships were decimated in that single   
confrontation.  Very good.   
   But not good enough to take out four hundred Pool ships.   
   The other Pool ships closed in on the Cruiser.  It was helpless with its   
entire hold of torpedoes drained.  Laezrs flashed, taking down shielding of   
Pool ships, precise targeting destroyed bridges and engines.  The Pool ships   
were taken aback by the ferocity and fantastic accuracy of this Cruiser, but   
still, they approached.  The last few Cruisers who had been here from the   
beginning fired weak laezrs, trying to draw the ships away.  The Pool ships   
didn't care, but the temporary weakness of shields was used to it's full   
advantage by this new ship, who used it's laezrs to slice away at the   
weaknesses at angles that took out key areas.   
   There were at least thirty more ships destroyed and fifty would no longer   
fly.   
   The fighters swarmed the Pool ships in great numbers,  Wing Commanders   
turning particular areas into slime with their Liquidators and Sidewinder II's   
slamming into hulls with massive power.  There were at least a hundred S-13s   
and fifty S-10s.  The fighters slipped under shielding using a classic maneuver   
involving weakening the shields with rapid laezr blasts.  The fighters strafed   
the Pool ships with Sidewinders, laezrs, and the occasional Liquidator.   
Flashes filled the dark sky as the sudden change of attitude in the TSN troops   
caused adrenalin to flow and Pool ships to die.  There were only half the   
original number now.   
   But it would be too much.   
  

###  Chapter 3

   Jake worried as he sat in the uncomfortable Captain's chair.  The fighters   
and Cruisers were fighting their best.  Pool ships flamed and died much faster   
than a Cruiser or fighter.  Bug fighters tried to fight, but were destroyed by   
the pinpoint accuracy of the TSN fighters.  There were two hundred Pool ships   
left.  At least.   
   There was no hope...unless...   
   "Taccomm! Give me the relative position of the moon!"   
   "Yessir.  It will be in view...now."   
   "Contact Moonbase," Jake said.   
   "Of course sir!" replied the officer.   
   ZZZZZZZT!  The screen gave snow and then...

   "Moonbase here.  You want some help...Grand Admiral?!?"   
   "Engage those ships, now!"   
   "Of course...sir"   
   The flashes of light and torpedoes streaked toward the approaching Pool   
ships.  The other two hundred were destroyed or dead soon enough.   
   "Very good Moonbase," Jake said and then waved his hand at the Taccomm   
officer to shut of the comm.   
   Jake turned to Rachel and Tobias who stood stunned.  "Wow, huh."   
   "Wow"   
    they replied in unison.

Epilouge   
   The Tiger picked up Marco soon enough.  Jake ran to greet his friend.   
   "Hey Marco!  How did you get up here?"   
   Marco cracked his knuckles as he stood in his morphsuit.  "Well, it took my   
good friend gorilla morph and a stolen laezr, but I got here!"   
   "Yeah, good to see you too," Jake said with a smile.   
   "Oh Jake, I think I know how the Yeerks got enough material to build so many   
ships, but I need to go to the Yeerk homeworld to check.  As far as I can tell,   
it's the only explanation," said Marco.   
   "What's that?"   
   "A planet-killing weapon"   
   "No"

##                      EPISODE III - The Armageddon Machine

## 

   _______________________________________________________________________   
  
  
  

###  Chapter 1

   The Cruiser blasted through Z-space, white blankness enveloping them.  The   
ship was going nowhere, it was circling.   
   Jake sat in his Captain's chair in the conference room.  The leaders of the   
Terran Star Navy were seated along the long table in front of him.  Jake sat   
silently.  The other leaders did not.   
   "We need to take a quick offensive!  Immediatly!" yelled one.  Others were   
in favor of spying, or were even getting off the subject.   
   "QUIET," Jake said in a tone that got everybody to do just that.  "We need   
to find out if the Yeerks really do have a weapon capable of demolishing a   
planet, and then we need to destroy that weapon, without using our starships."   
He turned and looked at the group sitting around the table.  This was going to   
get a reaction, "I need a squad of commandoes to go to the Yeerk home world."   
   Everybody in the room gasped.  Except for the people Jake knew would be   
volunteering.   
   "I'm in," said Rachel, who had been standing near the door.   
   < Me too, > thought-spoke Tobias to the entire room.   
   "You know me Jake," Marco chimed in.   
   "So you won't be going?" Rachel said with a huge grin.   
   "Shut up Rachel," Marco shot back.  "I'm with you Jake."   
   "You all know I'll be going," Jake said as he looked at the group around the   
table.   
   One Admiral stood up, "Grand Admiral!  You can't go.  If we lose you..."   
   "Admiral, do I have to remind you who has the higher rank here?" Jake said   
calmly.   
   "No sir," the Admiral said as he resumed sitting.   
   "Are there any ques..." Jake asked.   
   A new voice filled the room unexpectedly, "I'm coming too"   
   Jake's head snapped around, his eyes coming to rest on the source of the   
sound.   
   It was Cassie.   
  

###  Chapter 2

   The Admirals had finally decided on what to do.  And that was why a group of   
five morph-capable humans were going to the Yeerk home world in a small Yeerk   
lander captured by Marco.   
   "Okay Jake, we are coming out of Z-space now," Tobias called from the   
navigator's chair.  Tobias was in his human morph and had been for the last   
hour and a half.  "Jake?" Tobias said, "I'm gonna have to go back to hawk soon"   
   "Go ahead Tobias," Jake replied "We will soon be landing and then you will   
have to be in hawk to scope out the area."   
   Tobias took his hands off the controls and looked at the white lines on the   
viewscreen which were slowly dissipating.  He concentrated on returning to his   
normal form.  His morphsuit was soon etched with feather lines like tattoos and   
his body became smaller.  His mouth pushed outward and a hard beak appeared.   
In a few minutes, he was a red-tailed hawk.  Sitting in a chair.   
   < See ya!  I'm off to the hold in the back, > Tobias thought-spoke as he   
flapped once and took off, zipping behind everyone and through the open door to   
the back holding area of the lander.   
   Jake turned toward the front of the lander as a loud buzz cut through the   
air and the viewscreen flickered to life.   
   "Down!" Jake snapped as he flung himself out of his chair and onto the   
floor.  Behind him, a holoprojector flickered to life.  Around him, his friends   
lay facedown, out of view of the image that appeared on the screen.   
    A bright light filled the cabin as a hologram of Hork-Bajir and Taxxons   
showed up around them.   
    "This is Yeerk Lander 4326 returning from an unsuccesful attack on Earth,"   
said the Hork-Bajir hologram standing in the center of the cabin, "We were   
fought off b..."   
    A sharp voice came from the viewscreen above them, full of cold menace,   
"The Commander will hear about this."  Jake could hear the capital "C" on   
Commander.  So this must be the new leader they were talking about, he thought.   
    The program running the holograms suddenly narrowed its beam, projecting   
snow and fuzz onto the viewscreen as a voice said, "Experiencing communications   
difficulties!" and cut off.   
    Jake brought himself up on one knee and then stood.  The holoprogram had   
not been designed for interactivity, and it had been necessary to end a   
conversation before it started.   
    The group strode quickly to the back hold where Tobias was.  The lander was   
set on autoland, giving the Animorphs time to prepare.   
    "We're going to need morphs that will sense the danger before it appears.   
Cassie?" Jake asked.   
    "Wolves.  Their sense of smell will be very helpful," Cassie replied   
quickly.   
    "Good.  Who wants to go wolf?" Jake looked at the group.   
    "I will Jake," Cassie replied before Rachel could open her mouth.   
    "Fine," Jake said, "Marco, go gorilla,"   
    "Got the modified laezr?" Marco asked.   
    "Yeah."   
    Marco's morphsuit bulged and fur raised up from the already black   
material.  His complexion became darker and his nose flattened into his face,   
becoming almost a wrinkle.  When the morph was done, Jake handed him the extra-   
large laezr, especially modified for gorilla hands.   
    < Let's kick some Yeerk butt, > Marco said.   
    The group stepped toward the back door.  Cassie and Marco came out first,   
Cassie could lead the way with wolf senses, and Marco's gorilla with laezr   
would be very effective against front-line Yeerks.  Jake and Rachel followed   
with laezrs drawn.  Tobias perched on Rachel's shoulder, ready to take off.   
    The doors opened, and in front of the Animorphs stood three Hork-Bajir.   
Who were immediatly vaporized by three quick, crimson lines of energy.  Death   
was better than being a Controller.   
    The group jogged forward, Cassie's nose pointing out Controller groups so   
that they could be avoided.   
    The desolate landscape of the Yeerk homeworld was almost depressing.   
Cracked, barren soil around small brown weeds or Yeerk pools.  Nobody had any   
qualms about discharging a laezr into the pools.  The pools weren't guarded,   
apparently the Yeerks didn't think anyone would ever reach their world alive.   
The logs of the lander's crew gave plenty of clues as to where the homeworld   
was though.   
    The group reached a small launch pad.  On it was a single Bug fighter   
guarded by a single Hork-Bajir   
    With his back to them.   
    The Hork-Bajir whirled around, blades scything the air, searching for the   
source of the sound, smell, that brought him to alert.   
    Jake wasted no time, but brought the laezr up to eye level, sighted down   
the barrel, and squeezed the trigger.   
    The flash of light erupted from the laezr, offering no kickback.  The beam   
streaked forward, hitting the Hork-Bajir in the chest and knocking him   
backwards for a millisecond before vaporizing him.  The Animorphs moved   
silently into the Bug fighter, which they all knew would offer better cover   
than a lander.   
    Not to mention weapons.   
    The repulsorlifts on the Bug fired and the craft was swiftly lifted high   
into the sky.  Inside the fighter, Tobias took a natural place at the   
navcontrols after a quick morph to human.  The rest of the group nervously made   
small talk.   
    "So Marco," Cassie said, "How did you end up as a lowly technician?"   
    "It was easy!  First, I hacked into the computers..."   
    Rachel punched Marco in the arm, shutting him up.   
    "No," Cassie continued, "Maybe I should rephrase the question.  WHY did you   
end up as a lowly technician."   
    "Havn't you noticed?" Marco joked, "All the greatest achievments in   
scientific history have been made by people lower on the scale of scientific   
acheivement.  Take Wayne Szalinsky and the shrink-ray, for example..."   
    "I don't think you'll be getting anything out of him Cassie," Jake said   
from his post in the corner.   
    "Whoa," Tobias verbalized from the pilot seat.   
    "Whoa what...?" Rachel said.   
    Then they saw it.   
    "Whoa indeed," said Marco.   
    It was huge.  About the size of a small moon and shaped like a cylinder,   
with to very flat ends, it took up the entirety of the small viewscreen.  It   
was black, and only visible because it blotted out hundreds of stars.   
    "I think that's it," Marco said.   
    "See that big half-sphere on the one end?  I think that's where the weapon   
is," Tobias commented.   
    "So we need to destroy that?" Rachel asked nobody, "This will be fun"   
    Tobias turned his attention back to the controls and piloted the Bug   
fighter toward the behemoth.  The sensors scanned for a hangar, and quickly   
found one.  Unfortunatly, the hanger also had a small comm tower next to it.   
    Which was hailing them.   
  

###  Chapter 3

    "Turn it on audio only," Jake called.  Tobias streched out his human hand   
and flicked a large switch.   
    "Identify yourself!" the Hork-Bajir voice said in its native language.   
    Jake wet his lips and said in Hork-Bajir, "We bring a message," his voice   
hushed slightly, "for the Commander"   
    Hurried whispering and some mumbling occured over the comm, and then, "Dock   
immediatly, I will contact the Commander"   
    The comm buzzed as it shut off.  "Whew!" Jake said, "I'm glad that's over.   
Talking Hork-Bajir makes my throat sore"  He rubbed his neck for emphasis.   
    He pulled a small flashbomb from his jumpsuit's pocket and set it to a   
blinding flash.  The bomb would explode into light particles only, and blind   
anything that was looking in its general direction.  As Tobias pulled the ship   
into the dock he poised his thumb over the trigger.  There was a loud clank as   
they hit the metal floor of the docking bay.  Jake nodded to Marco, who had   
remorphed the gorilla and was carrying the laezr.  Marco pounded his fist on   
the door controls and the door whooshed outward.  A twitch of Jake's thumb and   
a flick of his wrist and the flashbomb flew outside, impacting the floor with a   
dull thud.  The Animorphs all closed their eyes as the blinding light sent the   
waiting troops scuttling away, blind as bats.  They quickly dashed out,   
shooting lights all around and bringing the bay to utter darkness.  They kept   
running until they were far away from the bay.   
    "Hork!"   
    Marco moved his trigger finger and vaped it.   
    "Do you guys have any idea how we can destroy this thing?" Jake asked.   
    < No clue, > Tobias said as he swooped forward, fully hawk again, slicing a   
Taxxon who had been coming out of an adjacent corridor.  The Taxxon's putrid   
guts spilled all around.   
    "Tobias, don't do that again," Marco cracked as he held one hand tight   
against his nose, "those things smell!"   
    The group rounded a corridor and entered a small room.   
    Which was filled with Hork-Bajir.   
    Marco, Jake, Rachel, and Cassie all squeezed their laezr triggers   
immediatly, disitigrating several.   
    The first Hork lept forward and was met with Marco's humongous fist.  The   
second was met with Tobias' talons in it's eyes.   
    "HRRRRRRUUUUUUUUUGHHHHHHHH!" it screamed.   
    The Animorphs had been in so many battles, they immediatly knew what to do   
when facing a dozen Hork-Bajir.   
    They retreated.   
    The blood-red Dracons flashed near them, slicing at arms, narrowly missing   
heads.  Vaporizing sections of wall.  The laezrs found their mark occasionally,   
but it was not a great battle.   
    Jake poked his laezr around the corner and was rewarded with a Dracon   
flash.  He squeezed his trigger rapidly and sprayed the corridor with laezr   
fire.   
    "L-a-e-z-r," he spelled.   
    < What? > Marco questioned.   
    "Doesn't laezr stand for something?"  Jake called over the gunfire.   
    < Yeah! > Marco yelled, < Light Amplification by Exposure to Zero-space   
Radiation >   
    "So what would happen if a gun malfuctioned and, say, ripped a giant hole   
into Z-space?"   
    < I see your meaning, > Marco said, < I won't be sure how long it would take   
or how big the hole would be, but it would probably freeze a ship into Z-   
space.  Very good Jake, I see you pay attention to lessons sometimes >   
    "Shut up and do it Marco," Jake said, annoyed.   
    Marco's bulging muscled diminished and his face resumed its natural tan   
coloring.  He also lost most of the hair.   
    As his hands turned human, he took the now oversized laezr gun into his   
palms and fiddled with the casing.  It popped off and he quickly cross-wired   
various wires and cut conduits.  He held up his contraption in about two   
minutes with a miniature knife near one wire.  He had probably gotten the knife   
from Rachel.   
    "I give us seven minutes to run," he said.   
    He sliced the wire and the whole gun buzzed and shook.  He dropped it and   
ran as fast as he could away from the firefight.  Jake set his weapon on   
automatic and tossed it into the middle of the corridor, then he ran too.   
    "MORPH!" he yelled.  His own body was changing into the tiger form   
already.  His teeth lenghtened and he fell onto all fours, still stumbling   
forward.  His vision in the dark increased.  He felt his bones rearrange   
themselves.  And of course, he grew fur.   
    The tiger was fast, very fast.  Jake had soon gotten farther than he ever   
would have in five minutes.  He saw Marco trying to morph a wolf very quickly,   
but he was tired.  Cassie was in wolf already and Rachel was almost there.   
Tobias zipped above their heads, keeping up well.   
    The menagerie finally skidded to a halt at a docking bay door.  They lept   
forward, into a Bug fighter, not stopping.  Tobias initiated liftoff with one   
talon and then hopped over and vaporized the docking bay doors with the   
shipboard Dracons.  They blasted forward at launch speed, which was very fast   
for a Bug.  Behind them, the exhausted Animorphs could see the massive weapon   
explode in a brilliant flash of white.   
  

###  Epilouge

    "That," Jake said, "was tiring"   
    "I feel like a blob of jelly," Marco said, gasping.   
    Rachel grinned. "That would mean your brain hadn't changed, right?"   
    Marco gave her a cold stare, then turned to Jake, "Hey Jake, I have an idea"   
    "Beginner's luck," cracked Rachel.  Some things never change.   
    "My idea could defeat the Yeerks once and for all"   
    That shut Rachel up.   
  

##                       Episode IV - The Liberation Weapon

   _______________________________________________________________________   
  
  
  

###  Chapter 1

    The construction facility was shining clean.  Sparks leaped from the hull   
of the Gunboat being built as techs shot blue flame from their hand torches.   
Farther away, the new S-20 Wraith fighters stood on their landing feet, black   
as space.  It was in front of these that the Animorphs stood.   
    The fighters were shaped like a Fury, but with an extra arched wing   
underneath that curved upward to meet the top wing at the tips.  This formed an   
almost diamond shape if looked at head on.  At the tips of each wing huge,   
unidentifiable guns poked out.  Four laezrs were attached, one to each wing,   
forming a square firing pattern.  Four Sidewinder II torpedoes were attached to   
the top two wings, two larger missiles were on the bottom wing, near the   
cockpit itself.  The cockpit was a long oval that came to a point, where there   
was a Liquifier.   
    "The black hulls camoflage the fighters while in space," said Marco, "The   
material also refracts all scanning frequencies except one, which the fighters   
will use while in battle to protect them from themselves.   
    "The two guns on each wingtip are nonrechargable and hold about as much   
firepower as three laezrs, each.  We call them Strikers.   
    "The four laezrs are still rechargable, and the Sidewinders will be very   
useful in dogfights.   
    "The two huge missiles on the bottom are radioactivly altered antimatter   
missles, or RAAMs for short.  They have as much power as a proton torpedo, with   
a longer range and better homing.   
    "There are two Mark 5 engines in the back for power and two Hornet class   
dogfight engines for excellent maneuverability.  Both classes of engine are   
brand-new.   
    "So," Marco concluded, "This fighter could bring the Yeerk Empire to it's   
knees, if we could build more."   
    "How many do you have now?" Tobias asked, fixating his hawk stare on the   
dark fighter.   
    "Umm," Marco said "four."   
    "Four," Jake repeated.   
    "Yeah, but those four have about as much firepower as an entire Cruiser,   
with more maneuverability and all the fighter specialties," Marco said.   
    "So, we're supposed to destroy the Yeerks with four fighters?" Cassie said   
quietly.   
    "No," Marco grinned, "that's just the prelude.  I know you guys will love   
this.  Non-violent.  Sort of."   
    Cassie became visually interested, "Non-violence?"   
    Marco walked to a locker, inserted an ID card and submitted himself for a   
retina scan.  The red laserlight flickered over his eyes, confirming that he   
was who the ID card said he was.  Marco stepped back, and the locker popped   
open.  He removed the new weapon.   
    It was pistol shaped, but not large and bulky like a laezr pistol.  It was   
thin and was like a bent pipe, with a barrel about a centimeter in diameter and   
a foot long.   
    "That is a nice looking weapon.  If that could be said about a gun," Jake   
commented.   
    "So what's so different about it?" asked Rachel.   
    "The bolt triggers the sleep center of the brain in it's target.  Since all   
animals share a similar brain and similar sleep center, it could be used on   
anything.  What's special is...well, you know how plants convert sunlight into   
food?"   
    "Yeah," said Rachel impatiently.   
    "Yeerks do that too.  The blast also releases a chemical that prevents   
that.  Even if the Yeerk could absorb Kandrona, it wouldn't be able to use it.   
The Yeerk starves while the host sleeps.  We call them 'Yeerkillers'"   
  

###  Chapter 2

    The Tiger was in zero-space again, en route to a building factory of Yeerk   
Pool ships.  They had timed the attack so that there would be only a single   
Yeerk Pool ship there.   
    A Pool ship to capture.   
    The Tiger could have easily destroyed it.  All Cruisers were ten times as   
big as a Pool ship and had five times as much weaponry.  The Tiger had at least   
seven times as much. Cruisers were not designed for subtlety.   
    The whiteness of Z-space surrounded them.  The viewscreen provided enough   
light see by, and all other lights were off.   
    "Destination reached sir," called back the navigator, "Impulse mark nine,   
eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one.  Exiting Zero-space."   
    TacComm turned his head backwards and said, "Report: Construction facility   
guarded by one Pool class Yeerk ship.  It is launching...ten Bug fighters."   
    Jake pressed a button on his captain's chair, "Tobias, you are clear to   
launch," he pressed the button off, "Taccomm, switch to scanning frequency   
'Wraith'"   
    As the officer turned back and pressed a button on his console, the   
viewscreen, already registering two enemy targets with red squares, drew green   
squares around four areas of empty space.  It was only when one of the squares   
passed over a star and blotted it out that you could tell they were the black-   
as-night Wraiths.   
    "Good luck Tobias," Jake said to himself.

    "Wraiths, fall into flanking positions," Tobias said over the comm,  "See   
those Bugs leaving the bay of the Pool ship?  Lock Liquifiers right above the   
bay.  The gravity well of the Pool ship should pull down the liquified metal,   
sealing the bay.  Set Liquifiers to full power."   
    "Roger that, Wraith Leader," said three voices.   
    Tobias pressed a button on his flightstick and locked onto the Pool ship.   
The possible target square around it became a diamond, then switched into   
possible capital target mode.  Dracons and engines were bordered with target   
squares.  Tobias moved his crosshair onto the hanger and pressed the button   
again.  The targeting computer locked the hanger.  He moved his crosshair up.   
Centered, held steady, and fired.   
    The targeting computer switched off.  Tobias watched the blue bolts streak   
forward in a line, pass through the shields then slam into the top of the   
hanger doors.  Blue sparks scattered across the area, liquifying anything they   
touched.  The metal slid downward.  A large metallic drop hit a Bug fighter as   
it left, sending it crashing into the floor, spitting fire and grease.  Bugs   
slammed into the new wall, crushing themselves, their fronts becoming wrinkled   
and smashed, their back shooting out fire.   
    Tobias let himself have a private smile, something he didn't get to do   
often as a bird.   
    "Wraith Leader, this is Wraith Three.  Four of ten Bug fighters made it   
out."   
    "Wraith Flight, pick a Bug and swat it," Tobias said.   
    Tobias set his main weapon to Strikers and pulled back on his flightstick,   
bringing a Bug into view.  The Bug had no idea where they were.  It would be   
shooting blindly unless it switched to that certain scanning frequency.   
    Tobias squeezed the main weapon trigger on his flightstick.  The yellow   
Striker bolts lit up his Wraith for a moment, but it was to late for the Bug   
fighter.  The bolts were at the end of a long laser-like line in the sky.  They   
flew through the shield and disintigrated the Bug.   
    Entirely.   
    "Yikes!" said one of the Wraiths, "I'd hate to be on the receiving end of   
one of those!"   
    "I know.  Did we get all the Bugs?" asked Tobias, "I don't see any."   
    "All clear," replied Wraith Two.   
    Tobias switched his comm, "Jake, we have an all clear."   
  

###  Chapter 3

    "Jake, we have an all clear," came Tobias' voice.   
    "All right, that's our signal," called Jake, "Animorphs, to your boarding   
pod!"

    The four humans sat in the less-but-roomy boarding pod.  Four members of   
the Animorphs.   
    "Is it my imagination, or have the Animorphs been getting closer and closer   
lately?" Marco cracked.   
    "Shut up, Marco," came the immediate reply from Rachel.   
    "Just drop it," Jake said, tossing them Yeerkillers, "Let's try these   
babies out.  But keep your laezrs close by"   
    The boarding pod clamped onto the damaged Pool ship, out of reach of it's   
Dracons.  The pod was made of the same material as the Wraith fighters, and   
probably hadn't been spotted.   
    A buzz filled the cabin as smaller versions of Striker laser technology   
sliced into the hull of the Pool ship.   
    There was a loud slam as the hull piece fell off.  A few moments later,   
Dracon fire could be heard, hitting the door of the pod.  Jake's fingers   
hovered over the door open control.  He aimed his Yeerkiller at the closed   
door.  The he pressed the control.   
    WHUM!  The door opened with a cross between a bang and a whoosh.  Jake   
squeezed the trigger on his Yeerkiller.  Once, twice.  The Yeerkiller shot out   
a diamond shaped bolt with a scarlet trail following it like a comet.  Two Hork-   
Bajir fell, one to his shots, one to someone else's.  A Taxxon appeared and was   
immediatly felled.   
    "It's clear," said Rachel, "Let's do it."   
    "Ah, that's a classic," commented Marco, "That and 'I'm in'"   
    "Shut up, Marco"   
    "Oooh, another classic."   
    Just then, two Hork-Bajir strutted around the corner.  All four fired their   
Yeerkillers and the two Hork-Bajir fell, expressions of surprise frozen on   
their faces.  Only with their eyes closed.   
    "C'mon," Cassie said, "We need to secure the bridge."   
    Jake tossed a holoemitter down the corridor, near their entrance place.  As   
it struck the floor, the emitter turned on, showing four human commandoes   
tending to wounded.   The Yeerks wouldn't think twice about shooting that   
scene, and it might buy them some time.   
    The group strode forward, going at a quick pace.  The occasional Hork-Bajir   
or Taxxon was delt with accordingly.   
    They entered the bridge.  Hork-Bajir whipped their snakelike heads around   
and drew their Dracons, too late.   
    The four commando Animorphs brought down Hork-Bajir with sharpshooting   
blasts.   
    Taxxons wiggled as they were hit by Yeerkiller bolts, and then fell asleep.   
    The battle was over in seconds.  Hork-Bajir and Taxxons lay asleep on the   
floor, Animorphs victorious.   
  

###  Epilouge

    Jake looked at the data padd.  It was suggestions for how to use the newly   
captured Pool ship, now christened the Liberation.   
    Jake mulled over the suggestions.  Hit and run. Nope, they'd be on to us in   
a flash.  Spy.  No, not unless we got some free Hork-Bajir to run it.  But then   
what would we do about Taxxons?   
    "Turn the ship over to me or she dies," came a gravelly old voice from   
behind Jake.  He grabbed a gun from the arm of his chair and spun around.   
    It was Chapman.  The only voluntary human host left.  And he was holding   
Cassie prisoner with a Dracon to her back.   
    There was only one thing for Jake to do.   
    He sighted down the gun.   
    At Chapman.   
    At Cassie.   
    And then he slowly pulled the trigger.   
  
  

##                              Episode V: Symbiosis

_______________________________________________________________________   
  
  
  

###  Chapter 1

    The trigger on the gun suddenly snapped back as Jake put a little too much   
pressure on it.  Metal smacked against metal, and the weapon fired.   
    The first blast hit Cassie in the shoulder.  She jerked back, and then   
slumped in Chapman's arms.  Chapman was so stunned, he never saw the next shot   
coming.  It slammed into his chin, snapping his head back and throwing him   
toward the door, which conveiniently opened for him.  He hit the floor with a   
resounding thud.   
    Jake smiled slightly, then laid the non-lethal Yeerkiller weapon on the   
table.  Non-lethal, at least, for non-Controllers.   
    He picked up a comm, "Can someone get a heavy stimulant in here?  We have a   
human Yeerkiller victim"

    Cassie sat in the comfortable leather chair in her office.  The window   
opened to a view of the grounds, the smell of freshly cut grass wafted through   
the open space.  Cassie had a sudden urge to kick off her shoes, put her feet   
up, and forget all about this stupid war.   
    That's exactly how Cassie felt about war.  It was stupid.  Why should we   
kill things to prove a point that had nothing to do with terminating life?   
    On the other hand, if the Yeerks were not iniolated, they would spread to   
the rest of the universe, destroying freedom, literally.   
    With a Yeerk in your head, you had no freedom, not even the freedom to move   
yourself, or talk by yourself.  You were Controlled.   
    Cassie remembered her talk with a Yeerk.  She had discovered that some   
Yeerks were not happy with being parasites.  In their sluglike bodies, they   
couldn't see.  The only reason many Yeerks took over bodies was to recieve the   
one sense they could never experience without being a Controller.   
    The Comm on her computer released a shrill beep, interrupting Cassie's   
train of thought.  She swivelled her chair away from the window and turned to   
the computer.  Tapping a key, she brought up a picture of...   
    A Hork-Bajir.   
    "Do not move," said the Hork-Bajir, "We wish to defect"   
    Cassie's hand moved away from the round silent alarm button hidden under   
her desk.  But not too far away.   
    Hork-Bajir.  A race of vegetarians.  Who also made perfect weapons.  The   
blades they used for trimming the bark of the trees to eat were very lethal in   
the hands of a Yeerk.  Cassie should know, she'd felt them before.   
    All Hork-Bajir were slaves of the Yeerks.  All except the few that had been   
freed of their hosts on the Pool ship attack a few days before.  And the   
descendents of the Hork-Bajir that had been freed in the days of the   
Animorphs.  This Hork-Bajir was definately not one of those descendents.   
Cassie had grown to know the Hork-Bajir when she saw them, like she might   
recognize a human face.   
    The Hork on her screen continued, "I represent the League of Symbiotes,   
human Cassie.  My designation is Sub-Visser 43"   
    A Sub-Visser was a fairly high rank for a Yeerk.  The Yeerks were given   
numbers after birth from the joining of three other Yeerks.  The first one was   
number one and so on through to the hundreds.  After birth, a Yeerk could bring   
it's number lower, and higher in the heirarchy, through the deeds that it did.   
After becoming number one, the Yeerk could become a Sub-Visser.  After that   
came Visser, and finally, entrance into the Council of Thirteen, who were led   
by a secret Emperor.   
    "The League wishes a secret alliance with the Terran Star Navy.  We have   
contacted you because our founder remembers you.  You sacrificed your sight for   
her and became a nothlit, trapped as a caterpillar."   
    "Karen?  I mean, Aftran?"

    Cassie strode toward her private Yacht-class vessel.  Yachts were the most   
common ship of civilians, but could also be easily upgraded and could support   
most weapons and devices with out a lot of trouble.  Cassie's Yacht had a trio   
of wings, each swept back in an arch.  Two of the wings were on the sides of   
her ship, the third was on the top.  The Yacht was a dull gold color, but not   
quite bronze.  Cassie had had only a single weapon put on - a high powered ion   
cannon strapped to the bottom of the ship.  She knew Yachts were not meant for   
battle and so had the most practical add-ons made.  Ion cannons caused   
mechanical parts to fuse together.  Cassie's particular model also had several   
barrels and power chambers that rotated to allow rapid-fire, which would not   
have been possible with only a single barrel or power pack, due to the slow   
recharge of ions.  She had also had the engines upgraded to the point that she   
could clear out of a place and into Z-Space in less than three seconds.  The   
shields had also been boosted, but not to the level of the engines.  Basically,   
Cassie could target an enemy ship with the ions, let loose a hail of crippling   
energy, and get the heck out of there.   
    Cassie did not plan to use that ship in battle.   
    An alliance with Yeerks? She thought, but continued her walk to the ship.   
It sounded crazy.   
    Sub-Visser 43 had told her to come to a neutral moon.  Unescorted.  Cassie   
would have never gone if she suspected something was dangerous.  But the   
mention of her...dare she call it a friend?...that she had saved the life of   
told her something that the Sub-Visser could have never proved otherwise.  A   
Yeerk that seemed content without the fighting and killing and conquering.   
Were there really more Yeerks that wanted only to see?  Or just be able to move   
around, or speak, or anything they couldn't do without infestation?   
    What had the Sub-Visser called their group?  The League of Symbiotes?  Was   
it possible that a Yeerk could enter your head and work with your body, your   
mind, you yourself, to actually have symbiosis?  The only example of symbiosis   
she had ever seen was that horror of a Yeerk that lived in Joe Bob Fenestre's   
body.  The Yeerk that ate it's fellow Yeerks and killed their human hosts.   
    What was she getting into?   
  

###  Chapter 2

    "Wraiths, follow me," Commander Tobias said into his battlecomm, "Razor and   
Strike Squadrons, flank Wraith Flight.  Talon Squadron, go into formation   
delta, come up behind the Wraiths and cover above and below."   
    The fighters moved into their formations, Wraith Flight, having only four   
ships, in the center.  The Fury squadrons formed into their four craft flights,   
each flight in a diamond shape.  The three diamonds moved into a triangle, with   
the One Flight of each squadron taking the lead.  Behind the wraiths, Talon   
Squadron went perpindicular to the formation, bringing their ships above and   
below the rest.   
    Behind the fighter group, three Mk. II Cruisers closed their bay doors,   
having launched the first wave of fighters.   
    Mk. II Cruisers were based upon the Tiger, flagship of the Terran Star   
Navy.  Each Cruiser's surface was scattered with three hundred high-powered   
laezr guns, enough to fend off most attacks.  For extra protection, 50 torpedo   
tubes, at various launching directions, from forward facing to rear firing to   
broadsiders, put small circular portholes along the ship.  The ship held 150   
M/A torpedoes, all ready to fire, as well as one hundred proton torps.   
    Mk. II's made very worthy opponents.   
    "Group Lead, this is Wraith One.  I have Bug fighters on an intercept at   
one and eleven o'clock.  I read, twenty-five Bugs in each group."   
    "Razor and Strike Squadrons, break formation, intercept and destroy those   
Bugs.  Talon Squadron, move to flanking position around Wraith Flight," Tobias   
said.   
    Ahead of him, Tobias could see the primary objective of this mission.  As   
some Furies peeled off to attack the incoming Bugs and other Furies came in   
around Tobias and his small flight of four Wraiths, he could see the mining   
facility.   
    It was mining a planet.   
    The greatest source of minerals had already built hundreds of Pool ships   
for an assault on Earth.  Luckily for the humans, a quick appearance by Grand   
Admiral Jake had held the battle just long enough for the powerful orbiting   
Moonbase to release a salvo of torpedo death.   
    The armageddon machine that had reduced this planet to shards had been   
destroyed in a daring commado mission by the Animorphs, and it's power no   
longer threatened the galaxy.   
    But now, the destroyed planet still held enough minerals and raw materials   
to rebuild the entire Terran fleet.   
    Which made it a primary target.   
    Tobias saw the five Pool ships that were guarding the base outlined with   
red squares as his HUD initiated.  Smaller red squares identified Blade ships   
and Bug fighters.  He saw laezrs flash around him as the flanking S-13 Furies   
sent lances of crimson light into the shielding of the approaching Bugs.  The   
spheres of protection around the Bugs shimmered as they fell.  More red fires   
cut through the blackness of space, igniting the Bugs and sending them spinning   
away from the battle, before erupting into balls of flame.   
    Tobias' tactical display showed the two Fury squadrons that had broken off   
engage the Bug fighters.  Fighters swooped throgh the starfield, firing twin   
blasts at each other.  Occasionally, a Sidewinder II would be launched,   
tracking the Dracon emissions of it's Bug, before slamming into the belly of   
the craft, shattering it's shields and delivering a glancing blow to the hull   
that either knocked it out of the battle or allowed other ships to take it out   
with a single laezr shot.   
    Tobias tracked one of the square-outlined Bug fighters with his eyes before   
it moved onto his crosshair.  Hitting one of the multiple triggers on his   
flightstick, he sent twin pikes of yellow stabbing into the Bug, slipping   
neatly through the shielding and vaporizing the fighter.   
    The Cruisers behind the fighters suddenly released two more Fury squadrons,   
expending their supply.   
    "Renegade Squadron, reporting in," called Renegade Leader into the battlecomm.   
    "Exterminator Squadron, reporting in," reported X-lead.  The abbreviation   
of such a long name was common among fighter pilots.   
    Tobias flipped his comm to "All craft" and said: "Roger that.  Renegades,   
assist Razor and Strike Squadrons.  X-Squadron, go into random scramble and go   
hit and run.  Talon Squadron, draw closer to Wraith flight.  Do not diverge   
more than 3 degrees.  Wraith, arm RAAM missles and prepare to switch to   
Liquidators."   
    He hit the switch that set his missle trigger to RAAMs, Radioactivly   
Altered Antimatter Missles.  The dark shape of the Hulk loomed before him.  A   
Yeerk Hulk.   
    One of the most recent additions the the Yeerk armada were gigantic space   
platforms commonly known as Hulks.  They carried hundreds of Dracons and at   
least one hundred torpedo tubes.  Hulks were a powrful addition to the Yeerk   
war machine and could fight of a small group of various fighters and capital   
ships.   
    This wasn't a small group.   
    "Ready RAAMs, Wraith Flight," Tobias said, tension filling his voice,   
"Fire!"   
    Large, oblong missles shot away from the group, toward the metal behemoth.   
Eight flames streaked through the dark starscape, smashing into the powerful   
shielding of the Hulk, shattering the protection, continuing their journey of   
death until slamming into the hull of the space station.  The flames and   
explosions ripped into the metal of the Hulk, tearing deck from deck, and   
igniting the whole thing in flames.   
    Engines fired uselessly.  Dracons spun their beams of deadly light into the   
starfield, missing anything and everything.  Torpedoes fired and then where   
engulfed in the flames, detonating and adding to the chaos of fire.   
    Then, as suddenly as it had started, the flames burned the last of the   
oxygen that had been stored in the ship and died.  A dark, twisted and torn,   
steel and iron Hulk spun through space, flying backwards into the Pool ships   
that were backing it up.  The huge hunk of bent and ripped metal smashed the   
dozens of spider-legged ships against its still hot hull.  One ship, on the   
edge of the group, powered it's engines and shot upward, being caught by the   
tumbling Hulk on it's three "legs" and spinning downward, smashing it's bridge   
against the melted hull of the Hulk.   
    The mining facility was relativly unprotected now.   
    "Marco was right," Tobias thought, "These weapons will win the war!"   
  

###  Chapter 3

    The Yacht pulled itself out of Zero-space, white lines bouncing off its   
nose.  The strings slowly dissipated, revealing the sleek, streamlined, dull   
gold colored ship, it's triple wings thrust backward.   
    Cassie sat in the cockpit, hands resting lightly on the controls.  She was   
there.  The moon known as M'tera Five showed up on her viewscreen, dull gray,   
pitted with craters from asteroid impacts.  Somewhere on that moon, a group of   
rebellious Yeerks crouched in wait.   
    Cassie powered her engines and flew downward.

    The newly elected President of Earth walked in front of Jake, hands behind   
his back, an air of importance surrounding him like a wet blanket.  Elected on   
the spur of the moment, this leader was a politician in the truest sense.  Jake   
really disliked people like him.   
    But Jake was really in charge of this operation now, being the Grand   
Admiral of all the Fleet.   
    "Here is part of the project using the mined remains of the destroyed   
planet," Marco said as he led the group of Animorphs again, this time adding   
the President and subtracting Cassie, who could not be found.   
    It was black, much like the Wraith fighters, but a lighter black than their   
nearly-invisible cousins.  It was shaped like a disc, with two upward-pointing   
stabalizer wings and visible airbrakes.  Whatever it was, it was certainly   
designed for both outer space maneuverability and atmospheric stability.   
    "We call it a 'Warden'.  It's of a new class of starship, especially   
designed for a strike on a planet"   
    "What's the new class?" Rachel asked.   
    "Its a B-2 Warden class bomber"   
    "I suppose the B-1 was a failed prototype then," Jake commented.   
    "No, actually, this is just a prelude to a prelude," Marco said with the   
slight grin of a scientist proud of his work, "I present, the B-1 Nova!"   
    With a over dramatic sweep of his arm, Marco gestured to another ship,   
which looked like a bloated version of the Warden.  The Nova was five times a   
large, making it a hundred feet across.  Jake could see three Wardens in small   
pods on the bottom of the ship.  They could probably be boarded from inside the   
larger ship.   
    "It holds twice as many proton and concussion grenades and bombs, plus a   
thirty or so flashbombs of various sizes, around fifty plasmic detonators, and   
ten NOD bombs.  NODs are a new bomb, recently designed.  NOD stands for Non-   
Organic Disintigrators.  The bomb leaves a freaking-big hole, but wont vape   
anything that has reproducing cells.  So as long as you keep growing, you just   
fall a long way down.  Very efficient.  You can take out an enemy base and   
leave the occupants running for cover."   
     The group walked around the still-in-contruction bomber, heads turned   
sideways to examine the dark plated hull.   
      Tobias said from Rachel's shoulder,   
     "Waitaminit Marco," Rachel said with a look on her face that said 'I know   
something you don't', "You said that this was a prelude too.  So...what's next?"   
     "Ahh," Marco said, "This is the final thing.  This is what will take back   
the universe," he opened a huge door by pressing his palm against a panel.  The   
metal door slid upward, hitting the top with a resounding clang.   
     He turned, patented Marco smirk on his face.  He turned to the openmouthed   
stares of the others.   
     "This, we call...a Battleship."   
  

###  Chapter 4

     The skies above the Yeerk homeworld were clear.  Through the thin, red-   
tinted atmosphere a few bright stars could be seen.   
     Aftran stood in her Hork-Bajir body, Tyrannosaurus feet planted firmly on   
the hard soil, bladed hands hung at her sides, her snakelike neck was bent   
backward, twin horn-blades pointed toward the sky.   
     It was beautiful.  The crimson skyscape, torn with yellow bolts of   
electricity.  Flashing light.  Red above.  Many races did not find the Yeerk   
world a beautiful place, but they had not lived there for centuries.   
     Beyond the beauty was the stars.  Flickering behind the red sky like a   
lightbulb behind tissue paper.  The light cast from the flickers was reddened,   
making them look like a multitude of red giant type suns.  The stars that the   
Yeerks sought to conquer.   
     Aftran sought to befriend.   
     Symbiotes.  That's what she and her small group of rebels had become.   
They had entered a sybiotic relationship with thier hosts, instead of using   
them, they had helped them.  They had become fast friends.   
     And with that symbiotic relationship came something else.  Something so   
great.  Something that none of the conquering Yeerks could ever use, caught up   
in the cycle of control.  Something that would make the Yeerks all-powerful   
except for the fact that to recieve the gift you must give up control.   
     The control that plauged them all.   
     Uyc Ipraf, another symbiote who had chosen to go by a Hork-Bajir name came   
up behind Aftran as silently as a seven-foot reptile could.   
     "It is time, Great Aftran"   
     Aftran pulled back her Hork-Bajir lips in the best way a Hork-Bajir   
could.  She pulled back her lips in a smile.   
     "Yes, Uyc, it is time"

     Far above Aftran, a spot of white, a point of nothingness, appeared.  The   
point grew, spreading tentacles of white around the ship that pulled itself out   
of zero-space.  The tentacles grew, spreading down the entire length of the   
starship.  Twenty Earth miles.   
     The massive warship grew past the tentacles of white.  It pulled itself   
into reality, squeezing through the borders of true space.  When it finally   
hung there, over the Yeerk homeworld, flanked by two hundred Cruiser class   
vessels, It's commander gave a single order.   
     "Fire!"

     The strike force pulled itself out of Z-space.  Jake watched the   
viewscreen as the lines of white stripped themselves away from the new ship.   
The Battleship.   
     It was twenty miles long stem to stern, made from the mined remains of an   
unknown planet.  Thousands of laezrs, hundreds of torpedo tubes, Liquifiers,   
Strikers, all the weapons of the fleet.  The Battleship had a long, stretched   
out triangular top, with a long keel that came all the way down to the end of   
the ship, forming the back into an equalateral triangle.  It was like a pyramid   
that had been sliced down the middle.   
     It was flanked by the pencil-like Cruisers, boxy Gunships, literally   
hundreds of thousands of fighters, maybe even a million.   
     In front of them was thousands of Pool ships, hundreds of Blade ships,   
hundreds of thousands of fighters.   
     It was the massed fleets of both sides.   
     It was the final confrontation.   
     And so Jake gave an order.   
     "Fire!"

     Rachel, leading the Cruisers, sat in Jake's pet Tiger.  It was a beauty of   
a ship, and Jake would have been a much better commander for it.  However,   
being a Grand Admiral, Jake was required to lead the flagship.  Oh well.   
     The massive fleet of ships was before her.  Pool ships, their triple   
spider-legs hanging below them approached the Terran Star Navy ships   
cautiosly.  The targeting squares around them flashed, indicating that they   
were in range.   
     "Any time now, Jake," Rachel said under her breath.   
     And then over the comm came a single order in a sure, strong voice.   
     "Fire!"   
     "You heard the Admiral, men!  Fire at will!"   
     The sounds echoed down the line of ships.  "Fire at will, repeat fire at   
will!"   
     And so the battle began.

     Tobias was hunched in his human body, wishing he had the eyes of a hawk.   
But he had to settle with enhanced computer imagery of the approaching Bugs.   
His Wraith's engine hummed softly behind his chair.   
     When the order came, Tobias' predator instincts had him already squeezing   
the triggers on his Strikers.   
     "Fire!" came Jake's voice.   
     "Fire at will, repeat fire at will!" came the voice of the Wraith Flight   
coordinator.  As that order came, responsibility shifted to Tobias' temporarily   
human shoulders.   
     "All fighters, this is your Assault Commander.  We have fire at will!   
Enter dogfight mode.  Zero laezrs at one hundred meters.  Arm your torpedoes   
and scramble.  Take a Bug and vape it.  Good luck"   
     Tobias hit the top button on his flightstick, locking onto an approaching   
Bug.  He finished squeezing his Striker triggers and sliced into the Bug's   
shields, through it's armored hull and disintigrated it.  Around him, laezr   
flashes connected with Bug shielding, sending empty shells tumbling through the   
vaccuum of space.  Dracons hit Fury shielding, flashes transformed the dark   
starscape into a kaliedioscope of color.   
     Tobias armed a Sidewinder II and sent it up the tailpipe of a Bug.  Pieces   
scattered through the battle, flaming, before burning themselves out and   
becoming like so much more space debris.   
     As more and more TSN fighters blipped off his tactical screen and more and   
more Bugs launched from the planet, Tobias realized that this might not be a   
winning battle.   
  

###  Chapter 5

### 

     "Arizona, North Carolina, cover the right of the fighter group," Rachel   
ordered from her captain's chair, "Hunter, Titan, move to the left.  Box in   
those Bugs and supply repairs for our fighters. Cruiser Group One, move in   
under the dogfight and hit those Pool ships from below.  Groups Two and Three,   
hit them from above."   
      Rachel had wondered how Jake always managed to keep rapping off orders   
like that, and now she knew.  In a life-and-death situation, being the leader   
causes some strange adrenaline action.   
      "Cruisers, prepare to cover bomber launch," came Jake's voice over the   
comm.   
      "Group Six, move closer to the Battleship and prepare to cover a bomber   
launch," Rachel said less than a second later.   
      The group of ten pencil-like Cruisers powered their engines and slid   
closer to the Battleship as the dark, disklike Nova bombers dropped out of   
lower docking bays.  The group switched directions and, going fast enough to   
engage Impulse drive and cause tiny white lines to stretch along the ship, shot   
toward the planet below.   
      They were harrassed by Pool ships and the occasional Blade ship, but it   
wasn't until an orbiting Hulk came by that the group was in trouble.   
      They were going to fast to fire back, and the Hulk was between them and   
the planet.  The Cruisers veered off, firing laezrs and launching torps.   
Explosions racked the Hulk, but still, it continued.  The Novas weaved as well   
as they could through the firefight.  They launched Wardens as they exploded,   
and then the Wardens were attacked.  The Cruisers slowed and came around to   
pummel the Hulk with laezr flashes and torps, but only a few Wardens made it   
through.   
      "Group Ten," Rachel said, "Destroy that Hulk!"  Ten more Cruisers came to   
assist Group Six, launching torpedoes with flashes that lit up their hulls.   
The Hulk spun around as it finally lost control of itself, flaming.   
      The five or so Wardens that had made it through continued down, flanked   
by a wing of fighters.  They swooped across their targets, dropping bombs of   
all shapes and sizes, including the occasional NOD bomb which left gaping holes   
in the earth.   
      But still, even with a few fighter facilities down, the battle continued   
to favor the Yeerks.   
      Until a few out-of-place white dots grew into ships.

      Jake saw the dots of zero-space white appear and expand, thinning their   
tentacles of white until they revealed...   
      "Hello, Prince Jake," said the Andalite on the viewscreen.   
      "Ax!?"   
      "Yes it is I, Price Jake.  The Andalite StarFleet has come with me to put   
an end to this Yeerk plague."   
      Jake's tactical screen showed hundreds of brand-new Andalite Dome ships   
and fighters as they entered the fray, shredders slicing into Yeerk Pool ships   
like a hot knife through butter.  The Yeerk force was temporarily driven back   
as they regrouped.

      Tobias watched as the Andalite fighters joined into the battle.  Humans   
and Andalites had their differences, but both fought for freedom.  Tobias   
didn't bother to demand command over the Andalites, instead, he said, "Welcome   
Andalites.  I'm the Assault Commander of this attack.  We appreciate the help."   
      His comm crackled as it switched to thought speak mode,   
      The Andalite fighters, fresh and not battle-tired, drove back the Bugs   
with ferocity.  The TSN Furies, inspired by the new recruits, gave new life to   
their scarred ships and zipped in to attack, laezrs flashing.   
      And it seemed that the tide of the battle would be turned.   
      Until Tobias saw the flashes of the ground-based guns that should have   
been taken out by the bombers finally heave their high explosives through the   
thin upper atmosphere of the Yeerk homeworld.   
      As the explosives traveled higher, their armor skin inpenetrable by   
laezrs or shredders and well resistent to torps, Tobias sent a message to Jake,   
"Where did those shots come from?  There was nothing there before!"   
      "I don't know Tobias, I don't know"

      The explosives went higher and higher.  Aftran turned to her comrades,   
"It is done.  Prepare yourselves to fight intruders.  Show no mercy."   
      Cassie watched the explosives continue their journey of death toward the   
Andalites and humans.  And she didn't stop them.

      Above the planet, Rachel watched the unstoppable rockets enter space.  It   
was all over now.   
      Until...   
      Without warning, the rockets veered of their courses to the TSN and   
Andalite ships and head toward the Yeerks'.  The heavy explosives, each the   
size of a house, smashed into the Yeerk fleet, explosions seeming to rip   
through the fabric of space-time itself.  Fire lept from all ships in the   
fleet, scorching any and all Bug fighters near them and even some Furies that   
had been slow in turning for futile attempts at pounding the rockets with   
torps.  The entire Yeerk fleet burned with a fire that was unearthly.   
Fireballs spun away from the ships, metal melted and disconnected from their   
ships like ooze.  Pool and Blade ships tumbled through space.   
      And so the battle was won.   
  

###  Epilouge

      Jake stood in front of the small, portable Yeerk pool.  The gray sludge   
writhed with Yeerks.   
      But Jake did not take his laezr to them.   
      Instead, he dunked his head into the squirming mass, accepted a Yeerk   
into his head to be a companion, not a Controller.   
      For life.

      You see, the gift that we Ellimists were allowed to give the Yeerks in   
our Great Game was that, if they ever decided to enter symbiosis, they would   
never be dependent on Kandrona again.   
      Just like the Dark Ones we play with made the Andalites too proud to mix   
with other species.  But they failed.   
      And so the Game goes on.  We have won against the Yeerk attackers, but   
soon a new evil will threaten the galaxy, to be confronted by the new,   
powerful, Humeerk race.   
      It's time for the second move...   
  

###                                    _THE END?_

    
  


End file.
